Control device for wells



sheets-sheet 1 Aprll 25, 1933. D. R. KNowL-roN Er Al.

CONTRL DEVICE FOR WELLS Filed Jan. 50, 1932 April 25, 1933. D. R. KNowL'roN El' AL .1,905,592

' CONTROL DEVICE FOR WELLS I Filed Jan. so, 1952 f 2 sheets-sheet 2 'm nM/ j. Patented Apr. 25, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE DONALD B. XNOWLTON AND WIISBUR CRITES, OFABARTLESVILLE, OKLAHOMA, AB-

IIGNORB T0 PHILLIPS PETROLEUM GOMPANY, OF BARTLESVILLE, OKLAHOMA, .A

(JOBPOB'ATION'- OF DELAWARE CONTROL nnvrcn FOR WELLS A Application med January 30, 1932. Serial No. 589,952.

This invention relates to control devices for oil and gas wells, and more especially to novel control means including an adjustable bottom hole bean.

Such improvements can be used for controlling the flow of any fluid from a well, but they are particularly useful for regulating the flow of oil or gas'from a well, either as a means of regulating the amount of oil and gas coming from the formation or as a medium for controlling gas that is introduced from the surface to provide a gas lift.

vOne of the objects ofsupply the industry with a bottom hole bean of rugged construction` which can be placed in the well with a minimum of hazard, and which can `be controlled by suitable means at the top of the well for easily and accurately regulating the Ibean in such manner that its area of opening can be noted at the surface at all times. Such control means permits the changing of the size of the opening through the bean, even while the wellwis Howin f nother object is to provide control means which will permit. the well to flow without .restriction through the tubing while the bean is in the hole, and which may be. caused to pinch down to anyl desired area of opening while the well is flowing.

A further object is to combine with the bottom hole bean, an adjustable ilowbean at the top of the string which can also be adjusted if desired at the same time that adjustments are being made with the bottom hole bean.

A still further object is to provide control means for use with high pressure gas wells where the freezing of surface control equipment is a serious problem. By using an adjustable bottom hole bean made in accordance with the invention, the uniform year-round temperature at the bottom of the hole is taken advantage of and no surface choking is necessary.` By such equipment, we can eliminate the expansion of gas at the surface, which usually results in freezing of equipment.

With the foregoing objects outlined and with other objects in view which will appear he invention is to as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described in detail, illustrated in the accompanylng A drawings, and more articularly pointed out in the appended clalgns.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view partly in elevation, of well equipment made in accordance with the invention.

Figs. 2 to 6 inclusive are transverse horizontal sectional viewsof the same, taken respectively on the lines 2 2, 3 3, 4 4, 5 5 and 6 6 vof Fig. 1.

Before proceeding with a detail description of the device, it may be noted that in every oil well there is a certain amount of gas present with the oil. If the amount of gas is suilicient, the well Will flow naturally. The gas-oil ratio of course, depends in eac-h case on many factors, such as the size of the flow string, gravity of the oil, and the depth of the well. The velocity at which this column of gasmoves has a direct bearing upon the. quantity ofoil that it can carry, and consequently, upon the gas-oil ratio. If the column moves too slowly, excessive slippage results, and if too rapidly, there is excessive friction and turbulence. By means of bottom and surface adjustable beans on the same flow string, the velocity of the column of fluid can be easily controlled, whereby the same or better results can be/obtained than when tapered tubing is used without this regulation.

Referring to the conventional well casing provided at per end with a casing head 8.

drawings, 7 designates its up- At -any desired elevation in the casing, we

the flow. A skirt 16 forms part of the sleeve and snugly engages the inner surface of -aL tube 17 which is fixed to the head by a threaded connection 18. This skirt prevents sand from getting in between the sleeve and tube, and thereby prevents sand from interfering with the adjustment of the sleeve.

The sleeve is raised or lowered by a rectilinear motion and without rotation for the purpose of regulating the area of the opening between the shoulder 14 andthe tip 12, andl for this purpose, the sleeve is joined by a threaded connection 19 to a conventional tubing string 20. v

The upper section of the tubing string passes through a packing gland 21 on the casing head, and a packing gland 22 on the tubing head 23. A spline 23a fixed to the tubing 20, slides in a vertical groove 23?) in the head 23, to prevent turning of the tubing string 20.

These heads are connected -to one another by links 24 which are joined to the casing head by means of removable pins 25, so that the tubing head can be removed when it is desired to take the tubing out of the well.

The upper section of the tubing has fixed to the same, an annular flange 26 which fits within a threaded collar formed of an upper section 27 and -a lower Section 28, and these sections are secured together by any suitable means such as bolts 29.

The tubing head also has a depending threaded portion 30 and threads of which extend in a different direction from the threads of the part 27 28, and these threads engage respectively with right and left hand threads 31 and 32 of a nut 33.

It will be understood that as the upper tubing'section can slide in the -glands 21 and 22, that when the nut 33 is rotated, the tubing will move rectilinearly without rotation, and this will result in lifting or lowering of the skirt 13, depending on the direction of rotation of the nut.

i We preferably use with this arrangement, a surface control bean 34 which may be of the type disclosed in the U. S. patent to Donald Knowlton, No. 1,831,713, dated November 10, 1931. This bean is connected by a piece of'tubin 35 to the tubing head, and its manually .adjusted substantially coneshaped head 36 cooperates with Aa choke opening 37, through which the fluid flows into a flow pipe 38 which leads the same toxan oil and gas separator, not shown.

This apparatus will enable those in the industry to control the gas-oil ratio.

Another equally important advantage' of the bottom hole bean resides in the fact that it prolongs the flowing .life of oil wells.'

Many wells that either flow by heads or by artificial means, such as gas lift or pumping, can be made to flow steady by the use of our bottom hole bean. i

tom hole bean in a gas lift well, is that there v is little back pressure against the column of fluid in the tubing. Friction in the tubing, and the natural weight of the fluid column, are the natural forces working'against the upward energy causing the flow. Where only the surface bean is used, the expanding gas dissipatesv energy which otherwise might be utilized.

To our knowledge all other bottom hole beans which are adjustable, can only be adjusted by twisting or turning either rods or tubing, which methods have many disadvantages. ^Also, to our knowledge, no other adj ustable bottomhole bean will permit an unrestricted iow through the bean if desired, for thepurpose of taking an open flow or potential gauge of the well. Naturally, this is a decided advantage, as it eliminates the necessity of killing the well to remove the bean if open How is desired. The common practice at the present time is to use replaceable non-adjustable beans of various sizes because of the disadvantages of the existing types of adjustable bottom hole beans. Our bean, on the other hand,is adaptable to all conditions and types of wells, such as gaslift, flowing oil wells, Ior gas wells, and offers a more simple and effective means of regulating at the surface the fiow of oil or gas from the well by means of a bottom hole bean.

In operation, the surface flow bean 34 will be opened. The bottom hole bean may then be opened by turning the nut 33 to the right so that the threaded member 27, 28 will act on the flange 26 to lift the tubing 20. Obviously, as the latter rises, the sleeve 13 will lift the shoulder' 14 from the. ledge 15, and the oil and gas will fiow through the orifices 11 and into the sleeve, and thence through the tubing to the surface. Any size opening at the bottom up to the full size of the tubing can be obtained, and this is also true of the top bean 34. This makes it possible to obtain a pressure differentialJ between the formation and the inside of the tubing ranging from zero to the maximum formation pressure. With such pressure differential, it is apparent that perfect control of flowing conditions are obtained. Also, when the volumeA and pressure of the gas are not sufiicient to flow the well, gas can be introduced into the well between the casing and tubing, and artificial flow can be realized under the same conditions of perfect control as were obtained under natural flow. Introduced gas will How downward between the casing and tubing, between the slips, (not shown) of the anchor 9, and into the bottom hole bean through the same course as the formation gas.

From the foregoing it is believed that the construction, operation and advantages .of the invention may be readily understood by those skilled in the art, and it is apparent that changes mal be made in the details disclosed, without eparting from the spirit of the invention, as expressed in the claims.

, What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination in a well having a casing and tubing, of a plurality of adjustable beans for controlling the flow of iluid through the tubing, one of said beans being submerged and the other being positioned at the top of the tubing, and means at the top of the well for adjusting both beans.

2. The combination in a well having a casing and tubing, of a plurality of adjustable beans for controlling the ilow of fluid through the tubing, one of said beans' being submerged and the other being positioned at the top of the tubing, and adjustable means at the top of the well for adjusting the size of the openings through said beans from the top of the well.

3. The combination with a well having a casing and tubing, of a bottom hole bean, means for regulating the size of the opening through said bean by moving the tubing in a rectilinear path from the top of the well, means for preventing rotation of thetubing during such rectilinear movement, and means for preventing fluid pressure within the tubing or casing from moving the tubing.

4. The combination with a well having a casing and tubing, of a bottom hole bean, means for regulating the size of the opening through said bean by moving the tubing in a rectilinear path from the top of the well, means for preventing rotation of the tubing during such rectilinear movement, said bean including a stationary tube, a head fixed to 40 the stationary tube and having an apertured portion projecting into the tube, and a sleeve slidable in the stationary tube and having zln nnular shoulder cooperating withsaid 5. The combination with a well having a casing and tubing, of a bottom hole bean, means for regulating the size of theopening through said bean by moving the tubing in a rectilinear path from the top of the well, means for preventing rotation of the tubing during such rectilinear movement, said bean including a stationary tube, a head fixed to the stationary tube and having an apertured portion projecting into the tube, and a sleeve slidable in the stationary tube and having an annular shoulder cooperating with said head, the head having a substantially conical tip which cooperates with the shoulder.

6. The combination with a well having a casing and tubing, of a bottom hole bean, means for regulating the size ofthe opening through said bean by moving the tubing in a rectilinear path from the top of the well, means for preventing rotation of the tubing 65 during such rectilinear movement, said bean including a stationary tube, a valve head fixed to the stationary tube and projecting upwardly into the latter, the upper end portion of the head terminating in a substantially conical tip, the valve head being apertured below said tip, and a sleeve slidable in the stationary tube and having anannular shoulder adapted to seat on said tip, the sleeve having a skirt projecting downwardly below the apertured portion of the head.

7. The combination with a well having a casing and tubing, of a bottom hole bean, means for regulatingthe size of the o ening through said bean by moving the tu ing in a rectilinear path from the top of the well, and means for preventing rotation of the tubing during such rectilinear movement, the means for moving the tubing in a rectilinear path comprising a rotatable nut having right and left hand threads, astationary threaded member engaging one thread of the nut, and

`a vertically movable threaded member fixed to the tubing and engaging the other thread of the nut. e

8. In a well, tubing and a casing, a casing head secured to the top of the casing, a tubing head on the tubing, a portion of the tubing being slidably mounted in the casing head and also in the tubing head, a stationary threaded part on the tubing head, a

' threaded part connected to the tubing, and a nut having right and left hand threads engaging said threaded parts.

9. In a well, tubing and a casing, a casing head secured to the top of the casing, a tubing head, a portion of the tubing -being slidably mounted in the casing head and also in the tubing head, a stationary threaded part on the tubing head, a threaded part connected to the tubing, av nut having right and left hand threads engaging said threaded parts, a-nd links detachably connecting said heads.

10. The combination` in a well having a vertical pipe comprising an upper stationary section and a lower vertically movable section connected together by a telescopic joint,

of an adjustable surface flow bean mounted on the upper end of said stationary section, a submerged adjustable flow bean associated with the movable section, and means cooperating with the movable section and posi-v tioned below the surface flow bean for adjusting the submerged bean without disturbing the surface bean.

In testimony whereof, `we hereto aiix our signatures. l DONALDR. KNOWLTON. WILBUR J CRITES. 

